Pierluigi Poisons Them All!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

It's a grand day for Italy, and for Pierluigi Aceto - he is the champion of Grand Prix Florence, defending Italian pride in their home Grand Prix!

Italy had already claimed one Grand Prix this year when Emanuele Giusti secured victory in Brussels, and the Italians were ruthless in ensuring that this title also stayed at home. Four Italians in the Top8 became three in the semi-finals, and eventually an all-Italian final was won by Aceto's deadly poison deck, overcoming the Mirran defenses of Nicola Landoni. Aceto had switched loyalties to Phyrexia in the Top8 draft, after staying loyal to White/Red throughout the Sealed portion on Saturday and both of the drafts in the Swiss portion of Sunday. His betrayal served him well, and following Martin Juza's victory for Infect in Bochum another European city fell to the plague.

While the Italian victory was met with great cheers here in Florence, we can assume that Brad Nelson was watching with some satisfaction at home. Shuuhei Nakamura's eventual elimination in his semi-final will make life easier for the current leader of the Player of the Year race when the Pro season comes to it's spectacular conclusion at the World Championships in Chiba next month.

Make sure you rejoin the coverage team for Worlds and spend the 9th-12th of December with us for what is sure to be a fantastic finale to the year!

Until then, and with huge congratulations to Pierluigi Aceto, we sign of from Grand Prix Florence. Ciao!

Record on day one (What colors did you play in your Sealed Deck?) 8-1 (Jund)

Record in the first draft (What colors did you play in the first draft?) 3-0 (red-black)

Record in the second draft (What colors did you play in the second draft?) 1-0-2 (Jund)

What Standard Deck will win the World Championships this year? Jund ;-)

Top 8 Draft – Your Top 8 Contenders Line Up!

by David Sutcliffe

The Top 8 draft took place deep within a scrum of Italian onlookers - the home nation had booked up no less than half the Top 8, and with players like Mario Pascoli and Pierluigi Aceto they certainly had the strength they needed to ensure that Italy claimed it's second Grand Prix of the year. The rest of the year featured some excellent players as well, though, headlined by Shuuhei Nakamura.

With the Quarter Finals lining up to start let's look at how the draft went for all eight of our surviving competitors, and see how they match up.

Your Top 8 Contenders Line Up!

Quarter Final One: Jorg Unfried (DEU) vs. Nicola Landoni (ITA)

Jorg Unfried was not confident in his deck when he first sat down in the deck building area "It's ok - I'm not too happy but I think it's ok" but had cheered up once he had finished building. His deck was a blue-green mix that featured a mixed bag of infect and non-infect creatures but also some of the most powerful rares in the format - Sword of Body and Mind , Mimic Vat , Tower of Calamities and an Argent Sphinx . He certainly had the firepower to win games, and knew it "Yeah I like it - it's look funny!"

Nicola Landoni actually had quite a similar deck - he had his own blue flyers from his UW deck and his own Argent Sphinx ! "Yeah I like this, it should be good - I have good blue flyers, and although I don't have much removal the creatures are solid".

It promised to make for an intriguing matchup, and I would follow it in the Quarter-Finals.

Quarter Final Two: Tommi Lindgren vs. Shuuhei Nakamura

Tommi Lindgren was not happy at all "But then I'm never happy! I think it's UW, maybe some green as well". As it turned out he had sold his deck short, and he wound up also playing some red for a Galvanic Blast . His deck was pretty poor - it had the standout Sunblast Angel and some solid creature, but virtually no spells at all - two Stoic Rebuttal s his only instants.

Shuuhei Nakamura had one word for his draft "Dead!" and even after he had finalised his deck he seemed no happier "Still dead! I'll never win." what Shuuhei had was a very standard red/green aggressive deck featuring multiple Molder Beast s but pretty much no actual creature removal. The only ray of hope for Shuuhei was the distinct chance that Lindgren's deck was actually worse than his own.

Quarter Final Three: Pierluigi Aceto vs. Anders Melin

Pierluigi Aceto was everything that Shuuhei Nakamura was not - his deck was good and he knew it. Being the sole Infect deck in a draft is perhaps the best position to be in for Scars Limited, and this time Aceto had that honor. His deck featured a trio of Plague Stinger s, with all the usual Infect suspects in support and enough black removal to suggest they would get the job done. "Yeah I'm really happy - I like this deck a lot, I think it's really good!"

Anders Melin was less emphatic about his deck. It was a GW deck that featured some strong creatures but not much else "I've not decided if I like my deck or not. It's got some really good cards but it has it's weakness too - I don't really have answers. My plan is to curve out"

Quarter Final Four: Mario Pascoli vs. Guido Citino

Mario Pascoli was sat at the head of a strong Black-Red deck. The theme for many players in the draft was a lack of removal, and the reason why was clear - Pascoli had it all! Galvanic Blast s, Instill Infection s, Flesh Allergy , Skinrender - he had it all, and half of it he had twice. The rest of his deck was solid aggressive creatures, but the key to success would be his opponents failing to get anything to stay in play. "Yeah it's good - I'm happy."

Guido Citino was less emphatic about his deck "Not so much, I wanted White/Red and I didn't get any red. I'm mono-white with just a little red for Vulshok Replica and my Saberclaw Golem ". Still, Citino had all the Glint Hawk s from the table, and although he didn't have the nuts White metalcraft deck it still featured enough flyers and enough artifacts to mean he could win games. His big problem was that it probably wasn't a great matchup against Pascoli's removal - although he didn't know that yet.

So that was layout of our Grand Prix Florence Top 8, and it looked intriguing. We had the blue flyers clashing, perhaps the two worst decks struggling against each other, Melin hoping to outrace the Infect, and an all-Italian clash in the last Quarterfinal.

Could Italy defend the Grand Prix? In Pascoli and Aceto they looked in good shape...

Quarter Final – Shuhei Nakamura vs. Tommi Lindgren

by Rich Hagon

In the only all-Pro clash of the quarter finals, the talented Tommi Lindgren from Sweden takes on Shuhei Nakamura of Japan. There may not be much left to say that's new about Nakamura, but something that perhaps doesn't get said enough is that he's a BRILLIANT Magic player.

Coming into the weekend on 38 Pro Points, only a win here would bring him within realistic range of Brad Nelson in the Player of the Year Race. That win looked almost mythical when there were 1,284 potential opponents.

Although Nakamura made Furnace Celebration , there wasn't much to celebrate, as Lindgren continued his Venser/Drake shenanigans, adding a Neurok Replica via a manabase that looked more like Ravnica than

The Furnace Celebration eventually combined with Tumble Magnet to kill Lindgren's Lumengrid Drake , and a second 2/2 flyer fared no better, with Nakamura sacrificing Clone Shell to Ferrovore , getting Molder Beast in the process. By this time Venser had reached eight loyalty, so Nakamura was forced to send the Leaden Myr , via Furnace Celebration , to the Planeswalker. Nonetheless, the red Enchantment was doing lots of good things for the Japanese standout, and eventually Lindgren had to accept that his Planeswalker had been dealt with, just before it could do dastardly Ultimate things.

Suspecting what was coming, Nakamura held out a Trigon of Rage , which Lindgren countered with Stoic Rebuttal . That allowed Nakamura to cast Tumble Magnet , which wasted no time in tapping down a potential blocker. Already Lindgren was down to eleven, and facing a horrendous position, which his own Saberclaw Golem seemed unlikely to help.

Quarter Final – Nicola Landoni vs. Jorg Unfried

by David Sutcliffe

These two players, each with their own variants of a blue control deck of flyers, got off to a predictably slow start in the first game Nicola Landoni led the way with a Perilous Myr and Trinket Mage (searching up a Darksteel Axe ) while Jorg Unfried had a Sylvok Replica to hand. The German was the first to unveil his big rare flyer - an Argent Sphinx , but Landoni immediately replied with his own Argent Sphinx and the stalemate continued.

Stepping the arms race up a gear, Unfried played a Mimic Vat and sent his Argent Sphinx , unblocked, to reduce Landoni to 16, and on his own turn Nicola Landoni equipped his own Sphinx with the Darksteel Axe and hit back, making the scores 12-16 in his favor. The Italian added a Sky-Eel School on his next turn but Unfried had the perfect answer to Landoni's growing air force - an Acid- Web Spider!

Unfried played a Soliton as the stalemate continued, while Landoni added a Grand Architect to the battlefield, swelling the strength of his blue flyers. The only thing holding the Italian back now was Unfried's Mimic Vat . Currently the Vat had no creature imprinted on it, and the Italian had to be certain that any attack would prove decisive as creatures killing each other would only aid his opponent's cause.

Calculating all the options available, Landoni chose his moment to strike - attacking with an Axe-wielding Darkslick Drake , Argent Sphinx , and Sky-Eel School . Unfried blocked as best he could with the Acid- Web and Argent Sphinx , but took five damage and was unable to kill creatures for either player so his Mimic Vat remained useless. Unfried struck back with his Soliton putting Landoni to 13, and braced himself for the next assault.

The attack never came - with Unfried having all his lands untapped Landoni was too concerned about any potential instants that could wreck his attack step - he could easily play into the hands of his opponent and the Mimic Vat . It seemed a crucial turn, handing the initiative back to Unfried. Finally with some breathing room the German used his Sylvok Replica to destroy Landoni's Perilous Myr and imprint the Myr to his Mimic Vat - that wasn't as powerful as it might first appear, though - the Mimic Vat token is Exile d at the end of turn and so doesn't trigger the Perilous Myr 's ability.

Landoni's Vedalken Certarch threatened to end the stalemate, and Unfried was forced to use a Slice in Twain on the Italian's Silver Myr just to prevent Metalcraft. Landoni pulled a Soliton to get back to two artifacts - as soon he drew a third artifact he could end the game, and Unfried flew into a frenzy of activity as he had to win before Landoni drew an artifact. The German summoned a pair of Alpha Tyrranax and sent them lumbering into the red zone. Landoni took a hefty blow and dropped to 3 life… the scores were now poised at 3 to 5!

After failing to find a third artifact again (ironically pulling a second Certarch) Landoni passed the turn. There was another attack from the Tyrannax's, and now Landoni was forced to begin chump blocking with his ground forces. The Italian finally found a third artifact, but Unfried had Stoic Rebuttal to hold him back from Metalcraft and a turn later Landoni had to concede what had been a mammoth first game!

Landoni 0 - 1 Unfried

From seeming on the the brink of defeat Unfried had manufactured an unlikely victory, but it seemed as though all his efforts were to be cancelled out in just a few turns. The German was stuck on two land, with Landoni's Vedalken Certarch tapping down his Copper Myr every turn. The German needed time to recover, but Landoni was never going to give it to him. A Darkslick Drake and Darksteel Axe upped the beatdown and the German was forced to concede - any blockers he could find would be shut down by the Certarch anyway. Inside minutes Landoni had levelled the match.

Landoni 1 - 1 Unfried

It was finally time for Jorg Unfried to take to the offensive, but he was betrayed by the mixture of Infect and non-Infect in his deck - curving out a Blight Mamba into a Neurok Invisimancer before stalling on three land and being forced to play a Cystbearer . The Invisimancer began nibbling away at Landoni while the German's Infect creatures stayed home to fend off Landoni's ground assault.

Again failing to draw land, Unfried had only one play left - all his eggs had to go into one basket and the German played a Sword of Body and Mind , a turn later equipping it to the Invisimancer. The first hit from the Sword was parried by Landoni's Auriok Replica but the Italian couldn't hide behind that Replica a second time and was forced to go onto the offensive. Equipping his Chrome Steed with Bladed Pinions , and his Grand Architect with a Darksteel Axe , the Italian attacked but was only able to get 1 damage through.

Unfried struck back with the Invisimancer, this time the Sword of Body and Mind did it's work - Landoni was down to half his life total and half his deck! Landoni delivered another alpha strike, but with a Flight Spellbomb sending his Cystbearer skyward, and his Wall of Tanglecord having Reach, Unfried escaped almost unscathed. Buying more time Landoni played a second Auriok Replica , but so long as the German had his Wall of Tanglecord there was no sign of Landoni being able to get a decisive blow to land.

He tried his hardest, but with Unfried adding an Argent Sphinx to his blockers the Italian was thwarted again - the Invisimancer struck one more time and milled out all but one card of Landoni's library!

This really was all-or-nothing stuff. Drawing his last card Landoni knew that he had to fashion a win from somewhere, but what was the last card? It was Tempered Steel ! Would it be enough to win the game? Caution was thrown to the wind and Landoni sent everything he had across the table.

Unfried made a critical error he assumed that when Landoni's Grand Architect turned one of his artifact creature blue is stopped being an artifact creature! He blocked the way he wanted and let what he thought was 4 damage through, leaving him with 4 life left. In fact it was 8 damage and he lost the game!

Jorg Unfried was clearly furious with himself for the mistake - he knew that the whole match had hinged on it. It would be scant consolation to the German, but after 15 rounds of Magic mistakes are all too easy to make - and that's even before you factor in the pressure that is added in the final seconds of a Grand Prix quarter final. But for Landoni the great escape had succeeded, however implausibly, and another Italian progressed into the Semi Finals!

Landoni 2 - 1 Unfried

Semi Final – Pierluigi Aceto vs. Guido Citino

by Tobi Henke

And now it was down to four. Over in the other semi final, Shuhei Nakamura was battling it out with Italian Nicola Landoni, over here the Italians were among themselves. The match-up was green-black infect (Aceto) vs. white-red artifacts (Citino), the archetypical default match-up of the format.

With Citino's air space closed down for all for all further traffic, Aceto started to get his ground offensive rolling. His Cystbearer died to Dispense Justice, but came back with a vengeance ... or, more accurately, with a Corpse Cur. This time around, Citino stopped the 2/3 via Arrest, and cast Snapsail Glider. But the Phyrexians were not to be denied. They attacked, took down a big part of Citino's defense, and put Citino himself at eight posion counters. Then, Aceto cast Vector Asp, which found itself in the unusual position of a potential kingmaker. The battlefield now was: Corpse Cur, Blight Mamba, one Plague Stinger, and the Asp for Aceto; Auriok Sunchaser, Snapsail Glider for Citino.

The latter topdecked neither blocker nor removal, and died on the next attack.

Aceto traded his Sylvok Replica for Citino's Vulshok version, then attacked for three to put his opponent at four counters. Without the Replica, Citino was left with one artifact. He could do nothing but play Glint Hawk and recast his Memnite.

Citino decided his best option was to take his chances in a damage race. He arrested the opposing Cystbearer and turned everything sideways. That left an opening for Aceto to get in with his Blackcleave Goblin in addition to his Plague Stinger, putting Citino at eight poison counters. Now, Citino was forced to continue with the race, attacked and made Ghalma's Warden. When Aceto killed the Warden with Grasp of Darkness, Citino offered the handshake of concession.

Semi Final – Shuhei Nakamura vs. Nicola Landoni

by Rich Hagon

While Nakamura's victory over Tommi Lindgren was rather mundane, it's fair to assume that Landoni's heart was thumping wildly after a last-card win over Jorg Unfried of Germany. Nakamura had Player of the Year to think of, while Landoni was all about the here and now in his first Grand Prix top 8.

For the first time in the match, the pace slowed, as Nakamura forced one of the Replicas to block his Tangle Angler, using Trigon of Rage to raise the Angler to lethal on the Replica. Landoni equipped his Chrome Steed with Bladed Pinions and piled in once more. 16, 12, 4, dead.

For the third time, Nakamura spent five mana on a creature, this time the 4/2 Saberclaw Golem. Now Landoni sent the equipment to yet another new home, the Grand Architect, while Nakamura cast the Tangle Angler that had struggled in game one. Still, this time the 1/5 might be able to sculpt an enormous attack in a classic 'yoo-hoo, look at meeeee everybody!' moment. In came the Angler, the Ferrovore, the Saberclaw Golem, both Molder Beasts. With no tricks, Landoni took a humungous sixteen damage, dropping to two, and there was no comeback from there.

Nakamura 1 – Landoni 1

Nicola Landoni

Surely Nakamura wasn't about to pull out yet another victory, against a deck that looked clearly superior?

Nakamura returned Clone Shell to play, but Landoni had a big fat Tempered Steel just around the corner, straight from the top of his deck, which drew a breath from the large crowd. Snapsail Glider dropped Shuhei to just four life. He checked. He checked again. And he extended the hand in, as always, gracious defeat.

Shuhei Nakamura 1 – 2 Nicola Landoni

Final – Pierluigi Aceto vs. Nicola Landoni

by Tobi Henke

Pierluigi Aceto

The Italians did it. They finally managed to eliminate all foreign intruders. Who would hoist the trophy after this last match of the long and grueling weekend was still to be decided, but one thing was already certain. This year's Italian Grand Prix would soon be won by an Italian player.

Aceto won the die-roll and went first, but Landoni had the first play with Vedalken Certarch. Both players had Myrs on their second turns, Aceto of the Ichorclaw variety, Gold Myr for Landoni. Ichorclaw Myr got in for one and Aceto summoned Cystbearer. Meanwhile, Landoni's deck really started rolling: he cast Riddlesmith and Silver Myr for even more extra mana and some extra card filtering.

Both players mulliganed their opening seven and kept their six. Despite all probability, Aceto had no play on his second turn, while Landoni got off to an early lead with Riddlesmith followed by Perilous Myr. And even then, the best Aceto could do on his third was Vector Asp. The Asp blocked Riddlesmith which Landoni replaced with Ghalma's Warden.

But then Aceto tapped seven lands, cast Heavy Arbalest, and attached it to his Plague Stinger. Landoni decided to hold back for the time being and just attacked with his Perilous Myr. This decision backfired, however, when Aceto topdecked Necropede and moved Heavy Arbalest over to that. With two infect creatures taking turns at using the Arbalest, all of a sudden, Landoni was in a losing position! As his creatures waned and vanished left and right like sand running through his fingers, he started a couple of more desperate all-in attacks but it was all too little, too late. The Arbalest shrank all of his creatures enough to render them irrelevant and continued to poison Landoni himself.

Pierluigi Aceto bested Nicola Landoni in two suspense-packed games to become the new champion of Grand Prix Florence. Congratulations!